Bright is the ring of words

Bright is the ring of words
When the right man rings them,
Fair the fall of songs
When the singer sings them,
Still [they are]1 carolled and said -
On wings they are carried -
After the singer is dead
And the maker buried.

Low as the singer lies
In the field of heather,
Songs of his fashion bring
The swains together.
And when the west is red 
With the sunset embers,
The lover lingers and sings
And the maid remembers.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Warlock: "are they"

Authorship

by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) , no title, from Songs of Travel and other verses, no. 14, published 1896

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by (Francis) Clive Saville Carey (1883-1968) , "Bright is the ring of words", published <<1940 [voice and piano], from Two "Songs of Travel", no. ?
by Roland Farley (1892-1932) , "Bright is the ring of words", <<1932. [voice and piano]
by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890-1937) , "Song and singer", 1911. [voice and piano]
by William Henry Hadow, Sir (1859-1937) , "Bright is the ring of words", <<1937. [voice and piano]
by Alistair Hinton (1950-) , "Bright is the ring", op. 40 no. 2 [high soprano and piano], from Six Songs for high soprano and piano, no. 2.
by Samuel Liddle (1864?-1951) , "Bright is the ring of words", published <<1940. [voice and piano]
by Geoffrey O'Hara (1882-1967) , "Bright is the ring of words", published 1947. [TTBB chorus and piano]
by Colin George Henry Oliver (1910-1997) , "Bright is the ring of words", 1939. [soprano or tenor and piano]
by (Gerald) Graham Peel (1878-1937) , "Bright is the ring of words", published 1903 [voice and piano], from Two songs, no. ?
by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) , "Bright is the ring of words", 1904, from Songs of Travel, no. 8.
by Peter Warlock (1894-1930) [pseudonym] , "Bright is the ring of words", 1918, published 1983.
by Peter Warlock (1894-1930) [pseudonym] , "To the memory of a great singer", 1922, published 1923. [voice and piano]
by Arnold Williams , "Bright is the ring of words", published <<1940. [TTBB chorus (a cappella?)]

HUN Hungarian (Péter Molnár) , "Élénk a szavak zengése", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Luminoso è il suono delle parole", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Amici Musica di Padova) , "Intenso è il suono delle parole", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Notes about green, red, and white dots

Gentle Reminder

This project, begun in 1995, receives no public funding and is supported financially by 0.01% of our visitors. If you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your gift is greatly appreciated!      - Emily Ezust I also have a wishlist at Amazon.ca.

Browse imslp.org (Petrucci Music Library) for art songs or choral works

Classical Vocal Repertoire